- The US military confirms the attack carried out at the request of Nigeria.
- Operation targets militants who attack Christians: Trump.
- The US Africa Command reports the deaths of several Daesh militants.
The United States carried out an airstrike against Daesh militants in northwestern Nigeria at the request of the Nigerian government, US President Donald Trump and the US military said on Thursday, claiming the group had been attacking Christians in the region.
“Tonight, under my leadership as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly attack against ISIS. [Daesh] “Terrorist scum in northwest Nigeria who have been brutally attacking and killing primarily innocent Christians at levels not seen in many years, even centuries!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The US military’s Africa Command said the attack was carried out in Sokoto state at the request of Nigerian authorities and killed several Daesh militants.
The attack comes after Trump, beginning in late October, began warning that Christianity faces an “existential threat” in Nigeria and threatened to intervene militarily in the West African country over what he says is its failure to stop violence against Christian communities.
Reuters reported on Monday that the United States had been conducting intelligence-gathering flights over much of Nigeria since late November.
‘More to come’
Nigeria’s Foreign Ministry said the attacks were carried out as part of ongoing security cooperation with the United States, which involves intelligence sharing and strategic coordination to target militant groups.
“This has led to precision strikes against terrorist targets in Nigeria through airstrikes in the northwest,” the ministry said in a post on X.
A video released by the Pentagon showed at least one projectile launched from a warship.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, in X, thanked the Nigerian government for its support and cooperation and added: “More to come…”
Nigeria’s government has said armed groups target both Muslims and Christians, and U.S. claims that Christians face persecution do not represent a complex security situation and ignore efforts to safeguard religious freedom. But it agreed to work with the United States to bolster its forces against militant groups.
The country’s population is divided between Muslims who live mainly in the north and Christians in the south.
Police said earlier Thursday that a suspected suicide bomber killed at least five people and wounded 35 others in northeastern Nigeria, another region troubled by militants.
In a Christmas message previously published on X, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu called for peace in his country, “especially between people of different religious beliefs.”
He also said: “I pledge to do everything in my power to enshrine religious freedom in Nigeria and protect Christians, Muslims and all Nigerians from violence.”
Trump issued his statement about the strike on Christmas Day while at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, where he had been spending the holidays. He had no public events during the day and was last seen by journalists traveling with him on Wednesday night.
Last week, the US military launched separate large-scale strikes against dozens of Daesh targets in Syria, after Trump vowed to strike back following an alleged Daesh attack on US personnel in the country.
